[Digiweb] Metro or DSL?

K-Fella

Hey folks,

I cancelled my BT BB service yesterday (sick of the **** service I got) and am looking for a new provider. I was hoping to get UPC/NTL but it's not available here (Baldoyle). Neither is Smart. So I'm thinking the next best provider to go for is Digiweb.

The thing is, I'm not sure if I should go for Metro or DSL. I play online gaming so I need a good reliable ping and little/no latency.

I have Digiweb Mobile 5MB service but because of the distance to the node I'm only getting 1MB. Does this mean Metro will be just as bad? Or is there likely be to a closer node for Metro?

How long can I expect to wait if I do order?

Any advice is appreciated

barnicles

ASk watty. He'll tell you anything you want :-D

Moriarty

Where abouts in dublin are you, K-Fella?

watty

Metro and Mobile are often different mast locations.
Also Metro is an outdoor Fixed system with cable to indoor modem, so 25km range at full quality is possible. I'm 12.5km away and getting 8Mbps to 11Mbps down and 1.2Mbps up on Metro

K-Fella

Moriarty wrote: »

Where abouts in dublin are you, K-Fella?

Baldoyle, D13.

K-Fella

watty wrote: »

Metro and Mobile are often different mast locations.
Also Metro is an outdoor Fixed system with cable to indoor modem, so 25km range at full quality is possible. I'm 12.5km away and getting 8Mbps to 11Mbps down and 1.2Mbps up on Metro

I reckon I'm about 4 or 5km away from the Mobile mast. So if I was to go for the 10MB Metro I could potentially get full speed?

Stephen

What kind of latency should people on metro expect to servers in Ireland and the UK, watty?

watty

Pinging www.bbc.net.uk [212.58.251.195] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 212.58.251.195: bytes=32 time=33ms TTL=123

Pinging www.rte.ie [89.207.56.94] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 89.207.56.94: bytes=32 time=20ms TTL=61

Pinging xboxlive.co.uk [213.171.195.53] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 213.171.195.53: bytes=32 time=48ms TTL=246

Metro via WiFi+ Router (wifi can add 2ms to 20ms depending how many are using it)
12.5km to Limerick Mast.

I'm on a marginal signal.

watty

K-Fella wrote: »

I reckon I'm about 4 or 5km away from the Mobile mast. So if I was to go for the 10MB Metro I could potentially get full speed?

Distance doesn't matter with Metro. Either you have LOS to a Mast and a signal, then it works. Or if the signal isn't good enough or no LOS (Line Of Sight) then they won't install.

I think the 10Mbps is "up to". At peak periods it might drop to 8.5Mbps or so. Depends on where you are. You'd not hardly see any drop in upload speed.

Stephen

Thanks watty, nice to know the pings are comparable to dsl

K-Fella

The one thing putting me off going with Digiweb is that they do not offer the option to cancel within x number of days if it does not work as expected. Even if you cancel the day after you first use it you have to pay €150 in fees.

Praetorian

Wireless is still inherently less reliable and I've personally seen these connections with a lot of ping spikes, especially during bad weather. If gaming latency is very important I'd go with dsl or cable.

admol

Plus if your in to downloading Digiweb is a major no no. They only allow you your average download allowance each day and if you go over it they throttle you. While i appreciate it means average usage by all it is definately worth noting. Read the terms and conditions carefully. For this reason alone i would never use Digiweb.

Moriarty

It's done over the past 30 days, it's not allocated per day. You could download your 30 days worth of cap in one day no problem if it so took you.

I'd also question how wireless is necessarily less reliable than cable or dsl. Metro is a DOCSIS network the exact same as UPCs - it's identical from the network layer up and uses licensed spectrum to stop any possibility of interference. It's all cable hardware that's used.

jor el

admol wrote: »

For this reason alone i would never use Digiweb.

I would hazard a guess that it's also the reason why Metro is so consistent. It's a contended network and heavy use by a few users isn't tolerated, so it doesn't impact on everyone else's experience. It's not for everyone of course, me included.

Moriarty wrote: »

I'd also question how wireless is necessarily less reliable than cable or dsl.

I've always thought the main factors effecting any wireless ISP would be interference (for unlicensed spectrum operators) and the weather. Not sure if weather effects Metro. Also, trees growing up in the way has been mentioned to cause problems on certain systems. That could just have been the old Chorus Powernet rubbish from years back, that was fairly bad though.

watty

Most cable in Limerick is exposed and is can be cut (usually in the middle of an important match).

Phone lines can rot in wet or be dug up.

Properly installed and technically sound Wireless can thus be more reliable than DSL, Fibre or Cable.

Weather does affect the signal, but the limit for install includes the margin for that. Some DSL exchanges use microwave links at frequencies more affect by weather than Metro and the install "link budget margin" ensures the exchange operates in all weather.

Some Wireless sytems are less reliable. There are many different technologies, not just vendors used for wireless in Ireland.

Praetorian

I've experienced Metro problems which I would rate as minor annoyances (ping spikes while gaming, having to refresh the connection a couple of times), to downright unusable speeds and pings during heavy rain. I've never in my life experienced rain wrecking a DSL or cable connection.

K-Fella some of the lads responding work for Digiweb, and they make more money selling Metro Simple as that!

helimachoptor

I've got the 6 meg metro a couple of months now and have been very very happy with it.

There's usually at least 1 laptop connected to it (sometimes) mostly just browsing with a bit of downloading and i would be on the xbox, I havent experienced any major lag yet.

K-Fella

Praetorian wrote: »

I've experienced Metro problems which I would rate as minor annoyances (ping spikes while gaming, having to refresh the connection a couple of times), to downright unusable speeds and pings during heavy rain. I've never in my life experienced rain wrecking a DSL or cable connection.

K-Fella some of the lads responding work for Digiweb, and they make more money selling Metro Simple as that!

Well, it doesn't matter now because I was just on to Digiweb and the Metro service isn't available in my area (apparently).

K-Fella

The whole BB scene in Ireland is a joke tbh.

Hank Scorpio

i would advoid digiweb dsl

Had many problems with them , such as extremly high pings, congestion at peak times and other problems.

Also i wudent give there customer service a vote of confidence

Since moving (back) to eircom i havent had any problems even tho eircoms technical support is a joke also.

Praetorian

The scene is a joke in certain areas alright. There are still very good products out there from the likes of Smart or UPC with the main problem being availability. Metro is very good in a lot of ways so don't get me wrong, but in my opinion if you want ping reliability and 100% uptime avoid it. Digiweb do offer the best wireless option in the country though, but that's not difficult considering Irishbroadband (pants) are their main competition.